Peter II of Courtenay

Biography

Peter II was a son of Peter I of Courtenay (died 1183), a younger son of Louis VI of France and his second wife, Adélaide de Maurienne. His mother was Elisabeth de Courtenay, daughter of Renaud de Courtenay (died 1194) and Hawise du Donjon.

Peter first married Agnes I, via whom he obtained the three counties of Nevers, Auxerre, and Tonnerre. In 1193 he married secondly to Yolanda, a sister of Baldwin and Henry of Flanders, who were afterwards the first and second emperors of the Latin Empire of Constantinople. Peter accompanied his cousin, King Philip Augustus, on the third Crusade in 1190, returning to France in 1193. He fought (alongside his brother Robert) in the Albigensian Crusade in 1209 and 1211, when he took part in the siege of Lavaur. He was present at the Battle of Bouvines in 1214.

When his brother-in-law, the emperor Henry, died without issue in 1216, Peter was chosen as his successor, and with a small army he left his residence of château de Druyes in France to take possession of his throne. He was consecrated emperor at the Basilica of Saint Lawrence outside the Walls in Rome by Pope Honorius III on 9 April 1217. He then borrowed some ships from the Venetians, promising in return to conquer Durazzo for them, but he failed in this enterprise and sought to make his way to Constantinople by land. On the journey he was seized by the despot of Epirus, Theodore Komnenos Doukas, and, after an imprisonment, died, probably by foul means. Peter thus never governed his empire, which, however, was ruled for a time by his wife, Yolanda, who had succeeded in reaching Constantinople. Two of his sons, Robert and Baldwin, reigned in turn as emperors of the Latin Empire of Constantinople.

In late 1217, Pope Honorius III still mentioned Emperor Peter as a prisoner. Giovanni Colonna, who was also imprisoned, was released by the despot in early 1218 after negotiations. However, Peter is no longer mentioned, which suggests his death.

Family

By his first wife Agnes I, Countess of Nevers he had:

Matilda I, Countess of Nevers

By his second wife Yolanda of Flanders, of the House of Flanders he had:

Philip (died 1226), Marquis of Namur, who declined the offer of the crown of the Latin Empire

Robert of Courtenay (died 1228), Latin Emperor of the Latin Empire of Constantinople

Henry (died 1229), Marquis of Namur

Baldwin II of Constantinople (died 1273), Latin Emperor of the Latin Empire of Constantinople

Margaret (died 1270), Marchioness of Namur, who first married Raoul, Lord of Issoudun, and then Henry I, Count of Vianden

Elizabeth of Courtenay who married Walter, count of Bar and then Eudes sire of Montagu

Yolanda de Courtenay, who married Andrew II of Hungary, King of Hungary and King of Croatia

Eleonore of Courtenay, who married Philip of Montfort, Lord of Tyre

Marie, who married Theodore I Lascaris of the Empire of Nicaea

Agnes of Courtenay, who married Geoffrey II Villehardouin, Prince of Achaea